A long bar is hung on a rope from a beam. On one end of the bar is a long strap that is attached to a harness of sorts and a little child sits inside while the Anganwadi worker adds more weight on one end until the bar is perfectly horizontal.

“This is one of the three methods we use to weigh children here,” Uma an Anganwadi Worker from Kottakuppam in the Villupuram District said.

In addition to the bar scale, the children are also weighed on a salter scale, which is a circular device from which the child is suspended from a harness.